Holy hybrid! E Mobile's pocket WiFi is also an Android smartphone

Japan has long had a reputation for being on the cutting edge of technology and innovation, so one might expect that the country would be blanketed with open wireless for everyone. Therefore, many travelers are surprised to find that public WiFi is scarce, and that those who want mobile internet usually have to dish out for a for a monthly plan. E Mobile has been providing popular pocket WiFi solutions for some time, but the company's latest is an intriguing piece of hardware.

Running Android 2.2, the new Pocket WiFi S is a two-in-one combo: a wireless router and smartphone hybrid. Retailing for a paltry 19800 yen (about $US235), this combo device will feature an unlimited data plan for as low as 4280 yen per month (or about $50).

Here are some of the specifications of the Pocket Wifi S:

Specification

Details

Memory

RAM 256MB, ROM 512MB

Display

2.8 inches, capacitive touchscreen, 240x320 WVGA

HSPA / W-CDMA

1700MHz/2100MHz

GSM

850MHz/900MHz / 1800MHz/1900MHz

Wireless LAN

IEEE802.11b/g/n Compliance

Max. simultaneous connections

Five

Bluetooth

2.1 + EDR

Camera

3.2 megapixels

External memory

microSD/SDHC slot (up to 32GB)

So, while it's far from the most amazing phone in the world, this should appeal to a lot of users who want their phone and mobile wireless on a single data plan, rather than get hit in the pocket twice. All the essential smartphone functions are wrapped up in a pretty affordable package, including GPS capabilities and integration with all the regular Google services, as with all Android phones.

We won't have too long to wait for the Pocket WiFi S either, as E Mobile has scheduled its release for the middle of January.

A big thanks to our friends at Mobile in Japan for the hot tip on this one. For anyone with upcoming Japan travel plans, these guys also have a great post about the myriad of short term data options that can work for travelers.

What are you on about? That is a huawei ideos. Im using one now. Its a very affordable android phone

Peter Dawson

Sorry, but what is the newsvalue of this item? I can\'t even begin to think when this article would have been relevant, except for advertisement purpouses.

As you should know, every Android phone has had the option to download an app to enable WiFi of USB tethering (the option to use it as a USB or WiFi router) since version 1.0*. With the releaso of version 2.2 it is even included into the operating system itself and that was back in June of this year.

With the exception of a short period when Google removed these apps from the market at the request of T-Mobile.
BartSintenie

This looks remarkedly like my IDEO Android phone which is actually being discounted right now much to my annoyance - and of course tethering in Android provides the services described - so the release in January seems a little late, the phone has bolted!